Election 2010

In mayor’s race, biggest spenders led the first-choice tally

In one of the most expensive local mayoral campaigns in recent memory, you get what you pay for—at least when it comes to first-choice votes. According to voting and campaign finance data compiled by Oakland North, the distribution of Oakland residents’ first-choice votes in this year’s still-undecided Oakland mayoral race directly reflects the spending by each of the candidates.

One week later, education community disappointed by Measure L’s close defeat

One week after Oakland voters defeated Measure L, a parcel tax that would have boosted city public teacher salaries, members of the city’s public education community are frustrated and disheartened. “I’m pretty disappointed, because it almost made it,” said Sam Davis, an adult education teacher at Manzanita SEED Academy in East Oakland. “It was so close.”

It’s Wednesday … do you know who your next mayor is?

As of Wednesday morning, eight days after Oakland voters went to the polls to select their new mayor from among a field of ten candidates, there is still no new information about the outcome of the city’s first-ranked choice election, according to officials at the Alameda County Registrar of Voters. The final tally remains unknown with no indication of when the results will be certified.

Final results for mayoral election expected today

By 4:00 pm today, the Registrar of Voters expects to announce the complete results and winner of Oakland’s first ranked-choice mayoral election. Registrar of Voters Dave Macdonald said on Friday that the final tally, including the previously uncounted 15,000 mail-in ballots, will likely be released this afternoon. “Who knows what could happen?” Macdonald said.

Measure BB preserves tax, enhances safety services

After an election season filled with debate over Oakland’s public safety funding woes, voters passed Measure BB Tuesday by a two-thirds majority. The measure’s approval means the city will continue collecting parking and property taxes for police, fire and violence prevention programs.

In Oakland mayoral race, Quan takes lead over Perata

Oakland mayoral candidate Jean Quan overtook fellow candidate Don Perata this afternoon in the computer-run calculation of second and third-choice votes in Oakland’s new ranked-choice voting system. Although several thousand votes remain uncounted, Quan said she’s “feeling very good” about the latest results.

Still no winner in state’s tight attorney general race

Amid a wave of Democratic victories in California that defied major gains for Republicans in the rest of the nation, the race to become the state’s next attorney general is so evenly split—between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican Steve Cooley—that its winner may not be known for weeks.